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Coolant gauge fail and then over fill.

pianomanpaul

New member

Fairly new to life with a 987.1. So working through the things I should be looking after as I read through the manual. When I got to the page about topping up coolant I looked in the boot to see how much I had and found the gauge said was clear. Nothing!

Looking inside after opening the cap I couldn't see any. So I did my research and bought a porsche boxster approved coolant and some ionised water to pour in at 50/50 mix.

As started pouring in the coolant it became clear as it quickly filled to the top (after pouring in about 1L) that it was already full. Now looking inside I can see the level which appears higher than maximum.

Question 1 - Has anyone else had the plastic gauge not show coolant level?

Questions 2 - Do I now have to drain the coolant to get it back down to the max level?

Question 3 - Does it matter that I probably have mixed new and old coolant?

Many thanks

Paul
 
I have always found seeing the level difficult. Try shining a torch down the neck of the header tank and is easy to see.
 
I agree with you Lawrence. Taking the coolant reservoir cap off (when the coolant is cool of course) and shining a torch down the container’s neck (easiest in low ambient light levels) seems to be the only effective way of checking a Boxster’s coolant level. I’ve never been able to determine an accurate level by looking through the reservoir viewing panel on any 987 or 986 Boxster.

Paul, there’s absolutely no need to drain anything. Just remove the surplus amount of coolant from the reservoir with a big syringe or turkey baster. As the Boxster’s coolant system capacity is around 22 litres, the removal of a few millilitres of coolant won’t make any discernible difference to the level of protection the remaining coolant will provide (in UK climate conditions). If you really want to check the strength of your coolant you can do this with one of the many coolant strength testers available for under a tenner to give you a guide as to the strength of your coolant. I use a Sealy branded tester (Sealey AK409 Ethylene Glycol Antifreeze Tester-Dial Type, Red https://www.amazon.co.uk/..._cp_tai_YqIeDb621M30K) which has come out well in various independent reviews.
 

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